DivinityMagazine

Class Notes

50s

TED R. MORTON JR. D’56 has been re-elected chairman of the board of directors for the South Carolina United Methodist Foundation. He has recently served as president of the South Carolina chapter of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, a patriotic lineage society that promotes the history and ideals of the revolution. He resides in Greenwood, S.C.

60s

RICHARD P. HEITZENRATER T’61, D’64, G’72, The William Kellon Quick Professor Emeritus of Church History and Wesley Studies at Duke Divinity School, was named the 2011 Recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. An accomplished renaissance man, Heitzenrater, in addition to his distinguished teaching and scholarship -- which has included the decoding of John Wesley’s journals and diaries -- is an artist and graphic designer, a craftsman-builder of log cabins and fine furniture, a gold medalist senior runner and track events judge, and faithful bass section lead er in the Duke chapel choir. He served as head referee for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship Cross Country Meet in Sewanee, Tennessee, in October and has applied to be a volunteer at the Olympic Trials in Oregon this summer. He also does volunteer work at the Duke Athletic Hall of Fame and Basketball Museum and continues to serve as general editor of the Bicentennial Edition of the works of John Wesley. He lives in Durham, N.C.

JAMES C. HOWELL D’79, G’84, senior minister at Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., is the author of The Beauty of the Word: The Challenge and Wonder of Preaching (Westminster John Knox, 2011).

80s

ROBERT W. JONES D’81 is in Sonoma, Calif., where he continues his ministry of pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. He is also the district bishop for the All Souls District in the New Methodist Conference.

KEVIN ARMSTRONG D’85 is the new president of Methodist Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital. He was formerly senior pastor at North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, and he serves on the Divinity School’s Board of Visitors.

JENNIFER E. COPELAND T’85, D’88, G’08 , United Methodist chaplain to Duke University since 1999 and director of the Duke Wesley Fellowship, received the 2011 Outstanding Ministry in Education Award from the National Campus Ministry Association (NCMA) at the annual meeting at UC Berkeley. The Duke Wesley Fellowship won the NCMA’s top program award.

J. CLINTON MCCANN JR. G’85, professor of biblical interpretation at Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Mo., is the author of Psalms in the Immersion Bible Studies Series (Abingdon, 2011).

RANDY CIRKSENA JR. D’87, D’94 teaches world religions as an adjunct professor at Riverland Community College in Faribault, Minn., at the largest prison for the state Department of Corrections. He is an insurance agent with State Farm.

LISA R. WITHROW D’88, D’89 served as editor for a new publication titled Alienation and Connection: Suffering in a Global Age (Lexington Books, 2011). She is also the author of Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians in the Immersion Bible Studies Series (Abingdon, 2011). She has been named associate dean at Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio, and continues to serve there as the Dewire Professor of Christian Leadership.

90s

PHILIP LEMASTERS G’90 gave the keynote address for Education Day 2011 at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, N.Y., titled “Orthodox Perspectives on Peace, War, and Violence.” He is the pastor of St. Luke Orthodox Mission in Abilene, Texas, and dean of social sciences and religion at McMurry University, where he teaches Christian theology and ethics.

JOERG RIEGER D’90, G’94 , the Wendland-Cook Professor of Constructive Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, is the author of Grace Under Pressure: Negotiating the Heart of the Methodist Traditions (GBHE&M, 2011).

TOBIAS WINWRIGHT D’91 edited and contributed to Green Discipleship: Catholic Theological Ethics and the Environment (Anselm Academic, 2011). He is associate professor of theological ethics at Saint Louis University, where he also directs the Manresa Program in Catholic, Jesuit Studies.